Friday, December 07, 2007

Now Magazine Cover

Here's a cover I did for this week's Now Magazine. Now is a venerable free weekly Toronto paper, one which I've picked up since college. Back then, I read it to see the art-show and concert listings, now I read it for the news articles. For this issue, they wanted to do a cover story on the 60th anniversary of the Horseshoe Tavern (a fantastic local concert venue) and they asked me for an image featuring the facade and some of the great acts that have played there over the years. At the top of their list of musicians was the legendary Stompin' Tom Connors. They gave me some latitude to pick the rest of the acts from a list, so of course I jumped at the opportunity to add the Ramones -- one of my all time fav bands!

Anyway, it all came together fairly quickly, due to the tight deadlines, and I was happy with how it turned out. I've never been too comfortable at drawing likenesses, but any chance to draw the Ramones is one I gotta jump at! For the record, the famous figures are (l to r) Loretta Lynn, Mick Jagger, Stompin' Tom and Johnny and Joey Ramone (rest in peace, guys).

You can see for yourself below the various steps I took to arrive at the final image.

17 comments:

Glark
said...

Awesome! I remember seeing Stompin' Tom at Brock University at the insistence of my newspaper editor friend and loving it. Only show I've seen at the Horseshoe (and I'm very much not a concert guy) was Shonen Knife and the sound was just terrible. Maybe it was the one bad night out of 60 years.

wicked! nice job getting on the cover of NOW, soon it will be all over the city litter-ally. how long did they give you? im just starting to get illustration clients & im just curious on what other clients are expecting

the art(first and foremost!)stands out and doesn't get lost in the sea of type that usually muddles up magazine covers.

fuckin love the ramones in the back there!! you got the likenesses down pretty good too. downtown nyc is no longer the same now that cbgb's is nothing more than an abandonned shell,waiting to be taken over by starbucks or duane reade or mcdonalds or... whatever.

i'm sorry but i must admit that i didn't recognize mick jagger. at first glance i thought it was patti smith!

Congratulation Micheal, AMAZING cover! I must admit I haven't picked up a Now in a long time since I started working from home and rarely go downtown anymore. But now I just got to make my way down there to pick up a copy!

glark: thanks, David. Yeah, its almost like its a duty as a canadian to see at least ONE Stompin Tom show in your lifetime!

Tim: thanks, Tim. Glad you like the Ramones too.

Kennon: thanks, Kennon -- I'm always wary of drawing caricatures or likenesses, so I'm glad it worked for you.

Dale: thanks, Dale. As for how long it took, I got the call late Thursday and handed in a final late Monday night -- so it was a bit tight as deadlines go.

Jason: thanks, Jason. I wanted Willie in there too, but it was the art director's call on adding Mick and Loretta -- it kinda makes more sense too since with Willie it'd skew too much toward country...

Jason: thanks, Jason. Patti Smith -- hahah! Now that I look at it again, you're right!

Diana: thanks, Diana! Hope all is well with you and your projects too!

Daniel: thanks, Daniel. I hear you -- sometimes I'm so cooped up in my studio that I rarely get out as well. It helps that I live downtown and that there's a Now box just outside my door...

Very cool (as always)...I actually think you did a stellar job with Loretta Lynn, I got who she was immediately.Great stuff leading up to this too...that Kellogg School of Management pieces are great (is that the Baxter building there in the background....)... and your Trinity story is riveting. Great work buddy.

Hiya Michael,Haven't visited your blog in a little while and I really loved flipping through your previous posts!!!Your style is awesome and I love the monochromatic style you have.I will make sure to pick up a copy of NOW magazine when it comes out!!!!

Paul: the graphic novel is coming along nicely. Unfortunately, however, I'm running behind with juggling freelance work, my Transmission-x webcomic and working on other projects. But I'm sure you know what its like to be busy busy busy. Hope things are going well for you at Pixar!

Please note that I do not do accept any private commissions (comic character sketches, family portraits, etc). I also do not sell any prints of my work online. Sketches and prints can usually be purchased at events that I am personally attending. Thanks for your understanding.

Upcoming Appearances

I'm looking forward to making my first appearance at the Dartmouth Comic Arts Festival this year. Should be a fun time - I'll be doing sketches, selling some prints and trying to enjoy the maritime weather!